Analysis of Holy Sonnet XIII: What If This Present Were The World's Last Night?
John Donne 1572 (London) – 1631 (London)
What if this present were the world's last night?
Mark in my heart, O soul, where thou dost dwell,
The picture of Christ crucified, and tell
Whether that countenance can thee affright,
Tears in his eyes quench the amazing light,
Blood fills his frowns, which from his pierced head fell.
And can that tongue adjudge thee unto hell,
Which prayed forgiveness for his foes' fierce spite?
No, no; but as in my idolatry
I said to all my profane mistresses,
Beauty, of pity, foulness only is
A sign of rigour: so I say to thee,
To wicked spirits are horrid shapes assigned,
This beauteous form assures a piteous mind.
Scheme | ABBAABBACDECFF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111000111 1011111111 010111001 101100111 1011100101 1111111111 0111011101 1101011111 1111010100 1111101100 1011010101 011111111 11010110101 11101011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 605 |
Words | 111 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 480 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 109 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 19, 2023
- 33 sec read
- 236 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Holy Sonnet XIII: What If This Present Were The World's Last Night?" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22529/holy-sonnet-xiii%3A-what-if-this-present-were-the-world%27s-last-night%3F>.
Discuss this John Donne poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In